BHPian traderjagadeesh recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Hi all, I have talked about how we can safely wash, decon, and seal the exteriors, and then maintain that for an apartment dweller who can’t have the provisions of cleaning with a pressure washer. You can check those articles if you haven’t once you are done reading this thread. 1) https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-d…ance-wash.html 2) https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn…post-13-a.html In the same way, we can detail the interiors as well and maintain them. I personally deep-clean the interiors once or twice a year, or after a long road trip if it becomes dirty. And a maintenance clean once every month or two, which doesn’t take anything more than 10 minutes. I will be lying if I say that I enjoy detailing interiors. Honestly, I don’t. In fact, 99% of the enthusiasts don’t like it as it is hectic and has to get into a lot of nooks and corners. And in fact, a lot of detailers that you gonna pay will be using APC everywhere they can to clean the interiors, which cleans it for sure, but causes severe damage. As it is a once or twice a year job, it’s better that we do it ourselves. The rest of the time, all we have to do is to wipe the whole interior with a rinseless dampened towel whenever you think that it is dusty inside, and a dry vacuum. Let’s see how I do it. Products and the equipment I use. 1) Koch Chemie Pol Star diluted to 1:10 if the interior is moderately dirty. 1:5 if it is heavily dirty. 1L cost me 512 rupees. And it will last forever with a 1:10 dilution, as I need only 200-250mL of the solution at max, which just uses 25mL of the polstar. It is pH-neutral, and we can literally use it anywhere. 2) Koch Chemie Green start diluted to 1:15. I keep this handy if there is a stubborn stain that the above liquid fails to clean. Trust me, I hardly used it thrice in the last 5 years as far as interior cleaning is concerned. Not a fan of using extremes of pH chemicals unless I need to, no matter what I do. 3) 3M dashboard dresser. Extremely cheap in comparison to Koch Chemie’s TS with the same output. No shiny glossy residue on the surface after the application. 4) As far as the equipment is concerned, obviously need the spray bottles for PS and GS, interior scrubber, soft bristle detailing brush to reach the nooks and corners like the gear rod, buttons and stuff, a dry MF cloth to buff the polish, and a damp MF cloth in rinseless to buff off the PS/GS if needed as they foam a bit. The process. 1) Cleaning the mats:- Rinse with water, spray the APC liberally, take the tyre brush and agitate it, then dry. If you want to go a step further, you can apply 3M dashboard dresser post drying to these matts. I don’t do that though. That’s not collin btw. It’s greenstar at 1:15. I just used that empty Collin spray bottle. 2) Prepared the Polstar solution. I don’t have that much of mess to deal with now. So not carrying greenstar. 3) The cleaning process:- a) Spray the polstar on the scrub pad on the nylon bristle side, spray on the panel, agitate it with the scrub, and you can see the foaming action, then wipe with the dry towel. I leave the touch screen infotainment system and the instrument cluster for the later when I do the touch up cleaning at the end. b) Wherever there are buttons or piano black surfaces, I just spray the PS onto the detailing brush, and then agitate with it instead of the scrub, and then wipe it dry with the MF cloth. And I am not worried about the foam drying out as it is a pH-neutral and isn’t gonna streak. What it needs is just a wipe off with a damp cloth. What’s important here is being methodical. If you keep on cleaning here and there, you will end up missing spots, and in fact takes much, much longer than you can think of. This is what I follow. I start on the driver’s side. Starting from the dashboard, I move downwards till I reach the bottom, then do the steering. I get down, do the driver’s seat, and then the door from top to bottom. I leave the scuff area at the bottom for last as I don’t want to dirty my scrub pad. The trick to cleaning the AC vents is, close them, use the brush and agitate, open them and agitate with the brush, then dry. ii) Then I move to the co-passenger side, follow the same top to bottom, and then do the center console, then do the seat, and then the door. iii) Get into the second row, do the back of the front row seats, and then the back of the center console, get down, and then do the second row seats, and then the doors. Mine is a 7-seater. So have to get back and do the same. But they usually aren’t that dirty, as I use the third row folded 99% of the time. iv) Then open the trunk, do the hood, and then the right and left side plastic area. This completes the whole vehicle without leaving an inch. Now have to do the touch-up jobs. 4) First, I take the rinseless, dampened towel and wipe the instrument cluster and the infotainment system. Then wipe with a dry MF cloth. 5) Then I take the scrub pad, spray PS onto it, then onto the scuff areas, and then clean them on all four doors, and then the trunk bottom area plastics. The tough parts are completed, and it took me around 35 minutes to do all this. 6) Time to do the dressing. I spray the 3M dressing onto a foam pad, apply it to all the plastics and the leathers on the dashboard, center console, and doors. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes, and then wipe with a dry MF cloth without any pressure. I must admit that I don’t buff all the areas. I don’t buff the scuff areas and the trunk areas where there is minimal touch. Dashboard shouldn’t be reflective, so it has to be buffed with the dry MF cloth no matter what. 7) Last and final step, I vacuum the carpet floors. Mine isn’t that dirty, and I really don’t want to bring cleaner from my flat to the basement. So done that part with this portable Chinese one, which connects to the 12V socket that I bought 5 months back and used for the first time. To my surprise, it performed pretty well. This is how the carpet looks post-vacuuming. While doing that, I realized I have missed the pedals. So took the brush and the PS, cleaned those pedals. I have done it to kill some time post-work, started at 8 PM and ended at around 9. So the lighting isn’t perfect for taking snaps. Including a couple of them anyway as of now, and will take a few in daylight tomorrow and add in the comment section if time permits. Post cleaning and dressing, Now that it is done, all I have to do is wipe with a rinseless damped cloth before I wash the vehicle once a month. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
